Returning to the source with Prem and Radha’s Ashtanga yoga in Bali

Everyone has their own unique destiny. For Prem and Radha, that path led to Bali—to build a sanctuary for sharing the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga they received from the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, lovingly known to students worldwide as Guruji.

“We were destined to be here. Things just fell into place piece by piece,” they explain.

Their journey isn’t just about teaching yoga—it’s about living their dharma. And it’s clear the island embraced them in return. Together, they built a bamboo shala surrounded by vibrant jungle, sacred rice fields, and the shifting colors of Mount Agung on the horizon. The daily walk to the shala is a kind of moving meditation—wrapped in silence, birdsong, and that unmistakable Bali stillness.

Practicing in rhythm with nature

The shala itself feels like an extension of the landscape. Built in a traditional, open-air style, it pulses with quiet energy. At the entrance stands Ganesha, remover of obstacles, as if to bless each student’s personal journey before they even step inside.

Inside, the room opens toward statues of Buddha and Patanjali. The space is simple but intentional, every detail placed with reverence to the Ashtanga lineage. “Moola Bandha. Check your breathing,” Prem reminds students—anchoring them back into the body, the breath, the present.

It’s more than instruction—it’s transmission. And students, whether beginners or long-time practitioners, feel that from the moment they arrive.

Ashtanga as personal research

This isn’t just a school—it’s a laboratory of the self. The name of the shala says it all: Ashtanga Yoga Bali Research Center. And Prem explains it best: “What does research mean? Re-search. We are giving people the tools to return to the source—through Ashtanga, Ayurveda, Tantra, all the tools we’ve gathered over the past 30+ years. We share our life experience, and our connection with all of that.”

Every student becomes part of that ongoing exploration. “You’re each like a living, breathing book,” Radha adds. “Every person brings a different story.”

Ayurveda consultations: healing through awareness

Alongside yoga, Prem and Radha offer Ayurvedic consultations—compassionate, non-prescriptive conversations that often begin with a simple question: “What’s been going on?”

What follows is more than symptoms. People talk about breakups, burnout, addiction, loss. “It’s their story,” Prem says, “and it’s lodged in the body and mind.” The consultations aren’t about giving answers—they’re about reflection, observation, and gentle redirection.

“Hopefully, in the consultation, people start to look at themselves,” he explains. “We’re not fixing. We’re facilitating. We help them look from a different angle. Often, they find the answers were already there.”

Learning, evolving, and returning home

Prem and Radha’s philosophy isn’t rooted in dependency. Quite the opposite.

“We want students to come, to go, to keep practicing, to keep researching,” Prem says. “Then return to the home office and check in.”

Radha adds, “That’s what makes it all worth it—watching the evolution. Seeing the path to deeper awareness unfold.”

And it’s never just about the postures. The transformation spills over: into work, relationships, health, food choices. “When things are working,” Prem says, “when people are doing their research, we feel it. That excites us. That’s when we give them the next level.”

Step by step, practice by practice, Prem and Radha guide students through the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga—not as a dogma, but as a living, breathing process of remembering who you are.

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